J’s Brunchette opened in May 2024, a welcome addition to the Mermaid Beach dining scene. It brings us something very different: a garden café just a five-minute walk from the beach with the resident pastry chef being one of the owners.
Owners Jasmine Chen, Chef Ming Yiu and business partner Lyn met through mutual friends, their common concept of a relaxed coastal café with international flavours drawing them together. They bring complementary skills to the café, located at the front of the Montego Mermaid Beach Motel.
The owners bring an international flavour to this beachside location, a place where ‘global meets local’. Hong Kong, their country of origin, is already a melting pot of cultures, and this is reflected in the French, Japanese and Korean influences on both the savoury and sweet menus at J’s Brunchette. It’s a great point of difference.
Chef Ming trained in Hong Kong, bringing twenty years of international pastry chef and chef experience to the café.
“I completed an apprenticeship as a pastry chef after school, then found that I really love it,” he tells us. After arriving in Australia in 2012, Ming continued to work in his profession at The Star, Gold Coast. His experience expanded further to other establishments in Brisbane and the Gold Coast before he opened his first café in Bundall. Ming manages the kitchen, making all the meals and daily pastries in house. Lyn manages front of house, while Jasmine deals with the financial side of the business as well as the flowers.
Breakfast gives us a hint of what is to come with its chorizo-laden Shakshuka and local favourites including Eggs Bene, Smashed Avo Sourdough and the Aҫai Bowl. Come brunch or lunch time, though, and the tone changes, much like a song that changes key.
“The mission of J’s Brunchette is to transport brunch on a gastronomic journey, offering a taste of different cultures through thoughtfully curated dishes,” the owners say. “It’s culinary artistry.”
Chef Ming explains the café’s two major points of culinary difference. Alongside the Seven Miles Roaster coffee and tiramisu-topped latte, “Many of my pastries have a reduced sugar content, making them healthier,” he tells us, “And secondly, my pastries show a blending of international cultures. I use traditional pastry techniques infused with Asian flavours. Choux pastries, one of my favourites, may have matcha filling or traditional custard. We also have a black sesame cake and a matcha cheesecake,” he adds.
“Fusion can also be seen in several savoury dishes. One of the café’s most popular orders is the Japanese-influenced Salmon Yuzu Soba Noodle with edamame, wakame and yuzu wasabi dressing among the ingredients dressing the Australian-sourced salmon. [This dish is one of our favourites too.] Buttermilk Fried Chicken Burger’s slaw with kimchi mayo shows Korean influences, while Tiger Prawn Squid Ink Pasta fuses East and West with sambal chili tomato sauce combined with basil and pecorino.”
With food neatly infused and gorgeously presented, it’s the floral vibe that we notice most of all.
From the moment you walk through the beautiful rose-threaded arbour, we feel at peace. While this may not be a traditional green space, with fresh roses on tables and hanging ferns and pot plants overhead augmented by silk roses around its perimeter, the covered terrace with lattice and French café chairs provide a joyful tribute to a sun-lit garden.
Garden cafés are rare but important. They bring green space into the city, giving us a mental and visual break from the urban environment.
“Spending time in green spaces can alleviate anxiety and depression symptoms, reduce stress hormone levels, enhance mood, and boost overall feelings of happiness and wellbeing,” Queensland’s Department of Environment, Science and Innovation says.
As we sit and relax, enjoying the carefully created terrace area, I think how perfect a place this would be for a baby shower or reveal, a birthday celebration or just a quiet meal with a partner or friends.
“Groups can order from the menu, or we can cater for the whole party,” Ming tells me. “A group can have sole use of the garden area, accommodating up to 45 people,” he adds.
Catering also extends to food and pastry catering orders to take home.
“What we want most is for people to sit, relax, and enjoy an interesting, healthy meal together,” says Ming. “After all, happiness is best shared.”
J’s Brunchette, 2395 Gold Coast Hwy, Mermaid Beach QLD 4218 Ph: 0426 760 676 Open: Tues – Fri 7am – 2pm, Sat – Sun 7am – 1pm
NOTE: Mermaid Beach light rail, presently under construction, will have a station directly outside J’s Brunchette. In the meantime, park across the road, in front or behind J’s Brunchette.
Good Food Gold Coast dined as a guest of J’s Brunchette.